More than 100 people joined a peace walk in Newcastle to show solidarity following the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London.

The idea for the Heaton Peace Walk came from children at Heaton Manor School and it brought together people of all ages, faiths and political backgrounds.

The group gathered at Heaton Mosque at midday on Saturday where words of harmony and peace were recited in Arabic and short speeches were made before they set out along Heaton Road and into Heaton Park.

Coun Bowman said: “The idea for the peace walk came from pupils at the school in response to the terrorist atrocities in London and Manchester.

“The pupils were very touched and upset by what happened. They wanted to do two things - one was to show solidarity with those who lost their lives, were injured or affected, and the second thing was to visibly show that all the communities in Newcastle are united and want to work together.

“We have much more that unites us than divides us. We want to be very clear that we don’t want targeting or scapegoating of people in our Muslim community.”

People take part in the Heaton Peace Walk (Image: newcastle chronicle)

Mohammed Sajid, a trustee and treasurer at Heaton Mosque, said: “There was such a great turnout at the peace walk, it was wonderful to see so many people there.

“It is important that people of all faiths stand against terrorism of any kind.

“Islam promotes peace and harmony among people of all faiths, and strongly prohibits all forms of violence towards other people regardless of faith and background.

“Those who have committed terrible acts in London and Manchester have gone against their religion. We condemn the actions of those people.

“We should live together, get to know each other and treat every human being as equal.”

Heaton Peace Walk was organised by pupils at Heaton Manor School and went from the Mosque on Rothbury Terrace to the Heaton Festival in Heaton Park (Image: newcastle chronicle)

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Father Jonathan Lawson, vicar of St Gabriel’s Church, also highlighted the importance of solidarity between faiths.

He said: “This was an opportunity for people to come together and rejoice in our different faiths. We have a strong ethos of community in Heaton and this walk showed how we can have solidarity with our Muslim sisters and brothers.”

Heaton Manor pupils were praised for coming up with the initiative.

Students Sommer Amers, Pip Major and William McMullen were among those there.

Sommer, 15, said: “It was important for us to do this because we wanted to show that communities need to work together and everyone should be treated equally.”